Tule Springs is one of the larger urban retreats in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...

. It is a significant desert

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

consisting of a series of small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

s that formed an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily i ...

. Both the springs and the ranch are located within the Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs which is operated by the City of Las Vegas.

Tule Springs Ranch

Tule Springs Ranch and the associated buildings are listed as a district on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

and located within this area. The ranch district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 23, 1981.

Tule Springs Archaeological Site

The area was home to numerous Native American visitors in the pre-Columbian period. More recently, it served as a guest

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most oft ...

for out-of-state residents seeking to "live" in Nevada and gain access to its easy

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

requirements. Several of the ranch's buildings remain, as do a few peacocks. The springs archeological site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1979.

Tule Springs Wash

The

wash WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievi ...

, also known as the Upper Las Vegas Wash feeds into the

Las Vegas Wash Las Vegas Wash is a 12-mile-long channel (an "arroyo" or "wash") which feeds most of the Las Vegas Valley's excess water into Lake Mead. The wash is sometimes called an ''urban river'', and it exists in its present capacity because of an urban po ...

. The wash area also includes several patches of the rare Las Vegas bear poppy. This area is part of the proposed Ice Age Fossils State Park, a conservation area and a proposed national park. In 2014, congress designated the area as a national monument, naming it Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.Obama signs Tule Springs monument into law
/ref>

References

External links

Tule Springs Ice Age Park
{{Coord, 36.323917, -115.26603, region:US_type:landmark, display=title Oases of Nevada Tourist attractions in the Las Vegas Valley Bodies of water of Clark County, Nevada